>> as we continue our business coverage, our hearts go out to those that are grieving in newtown, connecticut. adam: house speaker john boehner back on capitol hill. it is the latest round of fiscal cliff talks which, as speaker boehner opens the door for tax hikes. lori: don't count apple out. dissecting the opposing analyst calls. is the worst over for shareholders? melissa: it is time for stocks now. nicole petallides standing by. nicole: we are looking good.

you mentioned boehner and obama speaking once again. many traders that i have spoken with that something, some white, would get done. we are up about one half of a percent. there is the nasdaq sitting right at the 3000 mark. i also want to take a look at two names that have been making news. that is sprint and clear wire. that is about a half of a percent for sprint which is the number three u.s. wireless carrier. now, they will have full ownership of the spectrum. that is some good news for

sprint. you are seeing that clear wire is selling off the news. lori: president obama and house speaker john boehner meeting just hours ago. our rich and thin was first to report this news of the meeting. rich, the house speaker seems to be caving on tax hikes, at least a little bit. rich: they have been discussing the ratio with a 121 ratio. they are talking a trillion dollar spending cuts. higher rates on amount of more than $1 million curbs on deductions congress would work out next year. democrats and republicans are also talking about continuing the tax cuts. increasing the debt ceiling is a major sticking point for

republicans. they will want more spending cuts to raise the debt ceiling again. republicans say changes to entitlements must be included to get any deal through congress. there is progress, though there are significant obstacles remaining. the president will need at least half of them on the board to get something to congress and something to inspire some type of help. he will want more than half of his republicans. back to you. lori: two weeks to go. thank you so much for that update. melissa: let's bring in former republican house majority leader, transix. joining us now from dallas. what do you think that meeting was like behind closed doors put

back. >> the people he has to go back and talk to understand the fiction in washington. it is a trillion dollars more taxes paid. there was a trillion dollars less of an increase of what we had previously expected to have. tax cut is fiction and washington. he cannot agree to a deal that is not acceptable to a majority of his majority. [talking over each other] melissa: part of it comes from raising taxes on those over

$1 million. the other part comes from closing loopholes down the road. it all makes me think that we are not that close to a deal yet. >> all too often what you have is something with a lot of loose ends that never get tied up. i think john boehner, and bless his heart, he has the toughest job in town, he lives in a horizontal world as opposed to the vertical world that the president lives in. the president says i want something, well, everyone says, yes, sir. [talking over each other] melissa: where do you think the middle is right now? how much do you feel like john boehner really gave and what do you think the president would accept? where do you think the middle

point is? >> it is a very difficult topic. truth on taxes, fiction on cuts. it is very hard to get there. a dollar for dollar increase in cuts for increases in taxes is not something i think his folks will get. it has to go further. especially if he is talking about the debt ceiling increase. most of his conference numbers believe that is their final point of leverage to get to the democrats to agree on anything. melissa: would that be your advice to back yes. i think the question on the taxes, quite frankly, it is a nominal thing. quite frankly, it is a nominal value to deficit reduction or anything else.

melissa: we would spend it in about eight days. >> the fact of the matter is john has too much of a sense of a need to come to agreement with the president. i'm a big believer in regular order. let the president have to deal with legislation coming from the legislature body. i do not think that this president is well informed enough or have enough ideological flexibility to come to an agreement. melissa: you are not the first person who has said that. do you think that there still is enough time. at the last minute before we went over the cliff, it would be up to the president to accept it or take the blame for taking us over the cliff peered is there

anyone thinking that this is the dominant strategy? i have only heard one or two other people suggest that. >> is there enough time. i take a look at the legislative things that have been done in the last seven, eight, ten years. it is all done in a legislative panic. once it has passed, we will read it and find out what is in it. kind of a malarkey deal. yes, there is enough time. the only thing i would expect from john boehner is a higher level of quality workmanship. he is capable of putting together a good bill that has good substance in it. i would expect him to do that. melissa: thank you for coming on. lori: what an interesting take. sounds great to me. apple shares have been eaten away lately.

losing nearly 13% of their value. is the worst over, we will investigate. melissa: you will not believe how much americans spent last week. we will tell you just how much. take a look at metals as we head out to break. ♪

♪ lori: time to make money with

charles payne. he is helping to build a profit, literally. charles. charles: this is one of the first stocks back in april. of 34% since then. if your dividend will be taxed at 43% and capital gains at 28%, a lot of money that may have gone into a utility stock, what is another safe alternative. even though we know the aftermath of the housing implosion left a sour taste in a lot of peoples mouths, i think that may be going away. i like what management is doing. they are moving away from single-family and two high-rises. these are where the big growth areas will be. i think management has done a really smart thing.

they have been increasing their stocks. lori: is it technicals on the stock that you like? >> this is not the cheapest of all the housing stock. it is the only brand name in the luxury segment. they make some really interesting moves. i also think it is a very interesting time for real estate. once again, god forbid, you make any money, you want to invest in assets for at least the next four years. at least you can put money there that an near-term -- [talking over each other] here is another thing, bernanke told us last week their goal,

the fed's goal is to pump up hard assets. they do not care about inflation. that will be a risk they will take. two is the season to be spending. last week connumers spent more online than ever before. 11% more than in 2011. $6.9 billion. part of that was me. shoppers are not done yet. tomorrow's free shipping day will be another banner day for online shopping. [talking over each other]

melissa: i am going to steal it from you. thank you, charles. lori: time for the markets. let's check in with nicole petallides. you have news for us today on caribou coffee. nicole: that is right. a little coffee talk. up over 30% today. you see it at 16.05. the offered here to take this company private is for $16. just slightly, about a nickel, about that. it could be taken private for $340 billion. it was a german investment. that is something we are watching here. the premium is that a bout a 30% premium. caribou, take a look at it right now. certainly a big job there.

melissa: the bidding war for my capital heats up. charlie gasparino will have that story. lori: the dollar is a little stronger. we are back with more after this. ♪ it's a new day.

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>> i am lauren ggeen with your fox news minute. funerals taking place this hour in newtown connecticut. jack pinto and noah pozner being laid to rest. noah liked to figure out things mechanically. jack was a huge new york giants fan. he looked up to victor cruz. senators from connecticut calling for a ban on assault weapons. president obama saying last night at a memorial service, more needs to be done to protect our children. classes set to resume tomorrow in new towns other schools.

no word on when the elementary will go back to school. those are your headlines. melissa: so heartbreaking. the companies board discusses two competing buyout proposals. charlie gasparino joins us with the latest on this. the board meeting, began at 8:00 a.m. charlie: it is still going on. virtue, they are kind of unclear. they claimed it is all cash. we will get into some of the controversies of that in a minute. my capital executives have spent the last week, the key prime piece of real estate there, they

were shopping all week. just give me one second and we will explain what it means. a major knight investor tells us the firm could stay independent. the real question is, why do we care so much about this story. if you buy something through a td ameritrade or e*trade, knight capital touches that stock in a certain way. here is the thing, if they go to virtu, the largest market maker for retail, it will essentially be a private company. do you want this big market maker which is such an important player, do want them behind the

veil of a privately held company. the getco offer is interesting. i will pay you this, i talked to one investor today, this is a major god. he is doubting whether you can come up with enough cash. you have to go to banks, virtue says it has all been and barclays. no one has really seen much on offer. we have been told, but we have not really seen the proof. this deal may be going down as i speak right now. that is where we are right now. it is ominously quiet. lori: over the weekend, reports of getco and virtu meeting. charlie: that is beyond me. i do not know if it matters much in this debate.

melissa: you alerted to controversy. charlie: that is part of it. here is the problem, here is the problem, when you talk about an offer, if you think about it, we know exactly what getco is bidding. they have been on the record essentially with it. the problem with virtu, we don't have much on the record for them. all we know is they are bidding at least three dollars. they intend to bid all cash. we do not know what that means. there has been nothing filed. they don't have to, i tell you,

i talked to a guy, 1.5 billion, that is a lot of money. here is the other thing, just using my common sense, if someone is willing to hand me three dollars a share cash, there is not much debate about that. melissa: charlie gasparino, great reporting. thank you very much. lori: speaker john boehner offering the idea to raise taxes on billionaires. is it enough to get a fiscal cliff deal done. lou dobbs on his way to weigh in on the art of the washington compromise. melissa: changes coming to your favorite soft drink. well, some people's favorite. pepsi.

take a look at some of the winners on the s&p 500. we were talking about housing earlier. we will be right back. ♪

lori: we have breaking news out of washington. jay carney saying the only balanced fiscal cliff plan it has seen so far is president obama's plan. this coming after president obama and speaker john boehner met today. lou: we are exactly where jay carney says we are.

we are now gifted with a balanced plan which, surprisingly, the white house press spokesman suggesting it comes from the white house. that is about as good as it gets. the idea that boehner news to a million-dollar level for higher taxes acknowledges it, moves forward says what he wants is valid, we have traveled a long way on this journey with john boehner. he has moved light-years. the president, it has not been a journey. it has been, if you will, a drive by negotiation. this continues. we have a market up 70 points right now. can you imagine the explosion if something were actually going

on. lori: here we are starting to see boehner bed, he is getting a lot of criticism. to your point in your interview earlier where is the middle, no one knows where the middle is. the president is not dodging. will we even get there? lou: this president is not about the middle. a three-one ratio between spending cuts, to higher taxes is about right. we have seen nothing better from the white house than twice as many tax hikes. nothing better now on the table, apparently from speaker boehner

and a one to one ratio at which the white house is basically scoffing at. we are a long ways to getting to the center of anything. it looks like there is a great deal of frustration ahead. we will never get back. [talking over each other] lou: he has too much experience. he is too smart. the sure path to the body that controls under this constitution is to put forward a bill that can be rolled over in conference with the senate. that would be a huge mistake. lori: do the republicans look a little better today my

impression is that the republicans, boehner seems to be the lone ranger here. to his left, he has a rather avoid expanse of folks who may or may not support whatever it is he is negotiating at the table. i hope for the speakers take that he has considerable support and a broad agreement on the parameters of whatever it deal he could agree to or should agree to with the president. melissa: the end is near, by the way. it is two weeks away. the fiscal cliff, i think is

over dramatized in its impact. it will not be a sudden and swift results. the ratio of spending cuts and sequestration is twice as many. if this president cannot move to that level, at the very least, there is no point in doing business. lou: i think the damage is this. we are absent now strong leadership. the markets will begin to react. meanwhile, we have a real economy showing real, real improvement. not great, in terms of numbers, but at the margin, moving

significantly higher. [talking over each other] i do not think anyone should be afraid. lori: well said. thank you, as always. former director of pennsylvania will be discussing the heated debate of gun control and the role of mental illness and how it plays out and all of these devastating news events we are hearing out of newtown, connecticut. melissa: stocks get a nice boost. president and john boehner met

earlier today. lori: let's take a look at interest rates. they are rallying. nobody needs -- 30 year durations up. we are right back after this. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] this is karen anjeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they' gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some retirement people who are paid on salary, not commission. they'll get straightforward guidance and be able to focus on other things, like each other,

which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. >> i am adam schapiro with your fox business brief. stocks are moving higher after john boehner and president obama met to discuss ways to advert

the fiscal cliff. business economists believe the country will seem modest growth in 2013 with a continued rebound in housing added to economic strength. they say it expects the economy to grow 2.1% next year. the economists also believe unemployment will average 7.7% next year. "the hobbit" had a record setting opening weekend. it beat all three lord of the rings movies opening night. peter jackson's smash hit also marked the biggest november opening ever. that is the latest from fox business. ♪

lori: fading a little bit here. the dow is up 63 points. my next guest says do not sweat the cliff.

it will be gradual and we may avoid it altogether. joining me now is scott with the tick by tick market reaction. john boehner now willing to raise the threshold, increase taxes for those making a million dollars a year. are we any closer to any kind of resolution here? >> i think there is a lot of things going on in the background that we will not here for a while, if we ever hear them. i do not think you will get out of the fiscal cliff situation without raising taxes. there are a lot of people that would argue $250,000 in income is not wealthy, at least in some parts of the country. i think of john boehner wanting, he is willing to raise taxes. i think taxes will be raised on a narrow spot of people. in my opinion, we have a

spending problem. we do not really have a tax problem. lou mentioned in your last segment, three-one, i think that is pretty reasonable. i am not sure we will see that this time around. lori: lou also said, ceos need to stop wringing their hands and ask like adult and go ahead with the business at hand. i want to go ahead with this survey. it is at a three year low. do you think that business owners are using this as an excuse? >> i do not think that they really are. maybe some are. the vast majority are not. they have a couple concerns. they are just uncertain at the economic recovery. what are my tax rates, what regulations will be facing, how much will it cost me to hire another employee? i think those are legitimate

concerns. there is several fronts that they are worried about. i think that is a legitimate excuse to hunker down, see what happens, get the most productivity that you can out of your client and wait for more clarity. lori: the irs is saying there is no clear idea of what tax rates will be. that alone could really push us in 20 growth, negative growth territory. , first of all, business confidence is the foundation, in my opinion, in which consumer confidence is built on. consumers have been feeling more confident. the labor target is a little better. there are some things that are making people feel better. consumer spending is certainly based on confidence and if the

economy slows down, the fourth quarter probably will not be very good. if we see ceos and small business owners starting to talk about how many people they will lay off, if we go over the fiscal cliff, consumer confidence is going to go down from the current levels. lori: scott, i am pressed for time. are you holding out call holding back a little bit? >> on pullbacks, we want to be buying stocks here. we may be technically over it for a few weeks. we will have some sort of an agreement. it may be good, it may be bad. we want our clients buying on them. lori: appreciate your take. melissa: we have some breaking news. massachusetts regulators finding morgan stanley $5 billion over the facebook ipo. morgan stanley shares, right now

trading up $0.35. $5 million. sorry, that is a big difference. lori: we will take a look at facebook, as well, for you, shortly. melissa: hedge funds caught by most in the month. the fiscal stalemate is already taking an economic toll, should you do the same, sandra smith has today's trades. sandra: there definitely has been a change in tone on the trading floor. i was just seeing something hit on the wire up there. it looks like we are still at a stand still. >> it is a product of the risk

reduction. we are seeing a lot of hedge fund reduction. the fear is really gripping all the markets right now. we will continue to see that until we see some sort of deal. sandra: are you bullish heading into 2013? >> i am optimistic. you have to be selective. i think it is a muted situation and we will see a big increase going into year end and next year. sandra: thank you. commodities somewhat next. there is a big surprise down here as to why we are not getting an even bigger boost. a lot of selling happening in those commodities today. back to you. melissa: as we do every 15 minutes, let's check the markets. nicole petallides is on the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole: aig has been selling off assets.

they started about 100 years ago. aig stock is up about 3%. they may raise six and a half billion dollars from this sale. this is exiting that business that i told you was about a century old. aig has been selling off parts of its business. this is after they are just trying to pay it back. this is a very big deal. it could be $6.5 billion worth. the stock is up a dollar. back to you. melissa: thank you very much. apple flirted with $500 a share. remember when it was 705. lori: a rich share price. all things in perspective. planning for the fiscal cliff. we had to and auto repair company that will have to pull

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lori: walmart is rolling back prices on apple products. melissa: that is good news for customers. what does it mean for the tech giant already teetering. shibani: when the price of the ipod and the iphone goes on

sale, is that a good sign or a not so good sign. let's look at how apple sales are faring. shares were down about three blocks in the early morning trading. four different research firms came out and changed their view. the zoo also slashed its price target. everyone sort of grabbing onto the same expectation. cannibalization. buying the ipod the ipod mini, they are going with the cheaper priced item which is the ipod mini which ends up eating up in some of the sales. it continues to materialize.

lori: shibani, thank you. melissa: just two weeks left from the fall of the fiscal cliff. jeff flock is live with a companies ceo. always try to give you a unique perspective. this is mr. transmission. one of the franchises. these are small businesses all around the country that are now having to prepare for the potential of huge tax increases as we go forward. >> yes. yes. we are preparing. we will be looking at what we need to pull back on with some things that we actually would have spent money on. you are already putting aside money to pay the additional tax bill.

yes. we are in the middle of budgeting. we will be moving was dollars they do not make a ton of money. people think that any business makes a lot of money. >> we do not. most of our facilities make about a half a million a year. jeff: when speaker boehner says let's have the tax hike hits at more than 250, what does that mean for you? >> there are some small businesses that maybe go over that small marker. jeff: that could make a huge

difference. that takes a lot of people, small businesses like this one out of the picture. lori: interesting thought. jeff flock, thank you so much. diet pepsi's quietly changing its sweetener. cans of diet pepsi around the country will now list a mix of two artificial sweeteners. the change comes as pepsico looks to reinvigorate its share. pepsi-cola has made several flashy moves the question remains, how may people will really change from coke to pepsi chose because now pepsi is salacious. melissa: i am a diet coke girl.

i think a lot of people could tell the difference immediately. you have all of these vitamin water and gatorade and all the sports drinks. it is a tough market right now. lori: diet coke, from the fountain, for sure. melissa: coming up tonight. robert altman joins us for our power panel to discuss speaker boehner's latest offer to discuss the fiscal cliff. we will just sit down and solve the problem. lori: in early christmas present for all of your drivers out there. tracy and ashley are up next on why you are still paying out more than you ever did before. ♪

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>> so is "gangnam style" and tax rates are getting closer to a >> either way we're seen the market off its gains. it seems he's making concessions. we don't know where they stand. it seems like the two sides are getting closer together. ashley: and certainly the market has already priced in to get a deal of some sort. interesting what they were saying about speaker boehner. is he kidding? he will have to, i think, in many respects. the hard-core g.o.p. will not like it at all. we will see. >> on that note, take it away, guys. tracy: good afternoon. i am tracy byrnes. ashley: house speaker john boehner meeting with president obama at the

white house in the latest round of budget talks. the meeting comes with speaker boehner open the door to tax hikes. what will it take to get a deal done? tracy: republican congressman is a democratic counter spin of vermont will join us in just minutes. ashley: an early christmas present for drivers, we will explain why you're still working out more than ever before. tracy: and the greek god of yogurt. big business in a big factory in the u.s. the ceo expansion plan. telling us all about it next. ashley: i love some cheese. there you go, feta. stocks now, nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole: talking about greek yogurt, greek cheese.

dow jones industrials up a half of a percent right now. talking about the fact you mentioned john boehner and president obama speaking trying to come to terms in some sort of an agreement on the fiscal cliff. the market telling you something is going to happen, it will be done and that is something willis mentioned last week. it is believed that washington d get something settled. there's a look at the s&p 500, the nasdaq up three quarters of 1%. lots of names in the green. take a look at apple, disturbing if you look at it two months ago in september, and today nearly broke $500 in regular trading and actually went below .500 dollars in the premarket trading. got caught over at citigroup, with a price target on it.

the rollout was record-setting. ashley: they love it, thank you very much. tracy: house speaker john boehner met with president obama for the latest round of fiscal cliff talks. the meetings, and he'll love the new proposal which cause for raising a trillion dollars of tax revenue over 10 years. increasing tax rates in families earning over $1 million for the first time republicans have offered any concession on taxes and propose cutting a trillion dollars in spending. ashley: however the white house is not accepted the latest plan the president's proposal only "balancing a fiscal plan." @o what will it take to get a deal done? we have both sides of this one. michael burgess of texas, and peter welch.

congressman, thank you both for being here. let's start with congressman burgess. is this a sign that perhaps speaker boehner caving in to giving some ground talking about the tax hike of those earning a million dollars and more? are you happy with that proposal? >> no, i would not characterize it as happy. what was seen in the last couple of weeks was an absolute refusal on the part of president obama to engage on this. perhaps the good news is at least there is some discussion going on. i cannot say i'm thrilled with the direction of the discussion. i wish it was not behind closed doors. both belong to a pretty good committee in congress and these should be in the committee room on c-span for all to see. tracy: congressman welch, i know you want to increase revenue, tax hikes would be part of your plan, but history has shown us

our money has been wasted, it seems, over the course of the last couple of years through increased to take more money and to pay off debt that we didn't create does not seem fair to me. >> who did create it? we had the war in iraq and put it on credit card. it was a good plan, paid for by the credit card, so there's a lot of responsibility to go around. i do support the revenue, the president ran on that platform above $250,000. i'm somewhat encouraged by the congress i am seeing. the speaker is not in favor of raising taxes for the political reality working with the president on that focusing on trying to get some spending reductions and that is an important part of this.

the question for us on health hh care, food and save money but doesn't require beneficiaries. they may be struggling with that right now, but my hope is these two gentlemen who i think are working in good faith can present something to us for a consideration. ashley: coniston burgess, you have been outspoken saying taxes are already going up on obamacare. >> yes, 3.8% tax on unearned income that kicks in january 1 is baked into the cake. it is happening because of the bill the president signed back in 2010. all the taxes embedded in obamacare were done in a way to be under the radar screen, but look just across the board capital gains taxes are likely to almost double under the

obamacare regime and the taxes on dividends everything else being equal may go from 15% to 44% january 1. these are big deal texas happening and again have pretty much been hidden from the public view. if taxes would solve the problem, maybe we could talk about that, but the president talked about the top 2%, he pays for two weeks of the fiscal year. what do you do with the other 50 weeks? the talk about greek yogurt, we will decrease if we don't get the spending under control. tracy: don't say that. back to you, that will be the sticking point is spending. what we do about the spending and entitlements? two-thirds of it when it comes into the country goes right back out the door to pay for entitlements because we have so many obligations to cover. we can't even grow the country at this point. where will you come in caving on

taxes, where will you cave on spending? >> in fact we need to bring down the cost of health care, that is true and medicare and the entire health care system. they're burdened by the number of increases each year, going up faster than wages. they were pretty inefficient system and the incentives are wrong. we have an immense amount of waste and medical system even as we have the best medical care in the world. that is a challenge that we face. we have jurisdiction over health care, so that is something that will not be resolved in these discussions that have to be addressed if we will be competitive in the world, i agree with that. >> as you know, have fought the battle against the affordable care act. isn't it interesting learning in

hearings last week perhaps because of the reluctance to bring up the rules of the so-called essential health benefits prior to the election, not the governors can't partake. tracy: there are a lot of issues with health care including nancy pelosi saying we have passed it, now we should read it. thank you both for taking the time to be with us, michael burgess and peter welch. >> thank you. >> thank you. ashley: there is never enough time. congress warned of the fallout of the fiscal cliff could soon hit taxpayers in a very overlooked way. hundreds of billions of dollars in your irs refund check. with more, liz macdonald with the bottom line. tell me about this warning and why are we not hearing more about it. >> 60 million taxpayers are at risk because every time they have to reprogram the computer's

inaction creates a greater sense of urgency because a change may come in the final season and then i have to upend everything with high-level warnings to congress about the risk to taxpayers due to the fiscal cliff negotiations. more than 60 million taxpayers would have to wait until late march or later to file their returns and receive a refund. 28 million taxpayers, many of those in the middle class with unexpected tax liabilities of course what we are talking about is not just the alternative minimum tax fix, but have yet to do that, hopefully this coming year but also tax breaks that are expiring for certain tuition costs, state and local sales taxes, so they have been issuing these kind of warnings to congress, the irs t fox business this is information for all viewers even if this

gets fixed you can still see your refund check the late into the second quarter. $213 billion worth of refund checks averaging 2800, people need those checks to make the mortgage payments. >> yet again they are hurting the middle class. the one that files first, they're going to get hurt first. >> payroll tax cut expires, so cars doesn't get their act together you will see the money taken out of the first quarter in consumer spending. that is the issue we will be getting back to. tracy: unintended consequences that smacked the middle class. ashley: on that happy note, washington desperate for revenue and deductions of a very tempting talk these days but how much would it actually hurt

charities? gerri willis to weigh in. tracy: let's take a look at how oil is trading. $87.54 per barrel.

ashley: back before the new york stock exchange. our very own greek goddess down there with a great deal. nicole: you are too kind. to name certainly making news on a big deal today. you can see clear why are down 13%. a deal worth $2.2 billion, so agrees to sell, but majority of shareholders sprint and nextel. a big move for sprint as far as the acquisition is making. back to you.

tracy: thank you, nicole, we will see you in 15 minutes. ashley: we're going to get right to it, time to make money with charles payne. time is money. following up on a dirty fingernails stock. charles: you love these, talked about it in me, so time to follow up on tractor supplies. selling tractor parts ironically, but you go get barbed wire, futurity. livestock 40% of their business. the company is absolutely amazing. the stock pulled back a little bit that could give people an opportunity to jump in. despite the fact there are signs, they still have a lot of people, a lot of upside potential for them.

tracy: who are the competitors, like a home depot? charles: no, no, no. one of the things i find interesting is nobody knows about them. ironically enough "nightline" did a big special on the company but the reporter left for cnn, but it never aired. one of these things it is a hidden gem, they continue to do very well, great management, great execution. a great chance to buy the stock. closing above $90 is the breakout. from there to begin some serious momentum. once it gets going it usually does not stop for a long time. ashley: charles payne, thank you the fiscal cliff talks make some progress, just a little.

signaling a time to buy stocks may be. the philadelphia trust company tells us why now is the time to jump in. tracy: i hope that is true. but let's take a look at how the dollar is doing against the foreign currency. we will be right back.

>> 22 minutes past the hour, you're fox newsman is. funeral taking place in newtown, connecticut. they're being laid to rest. family members describing n know as a bright kid who love to find out how things worked mechanically. he was a huge new york giants fan and looked up to wide receiver victor cruz. trying to tighten gun laws after the wake of the shooting at the elementary. they're calling for a ban. president obama sang at a memorial service at newtown, high school, more needs to be done to protect our children. and the school district making plans to send students to a former school building in a neighboring town. open to faculty and students later this week.

those are your headlines. tracy: lorne greene, thank you very much. breaking news now, senate majority leader harry reid speaking moments ago on the senate floor saying it appears the senate will return december 26 to work i on the fiscal cliff. harry reid saying you have to get right back to work, guys. ashley: that is what you get when you don't come to an agreement. shares of apple bouncing back after nearing $500 per share as analysts cut their estimates from price targets for the tech giant, but the next guest says he's holding onto apple long-term. the ceo of the philadelphia trust company. let's talk about apple. a number of major banks, citigroup the latest, cutting their price targets on apple.

yes, one point i saw $1000 was the price targets. where do you see apple going? >> i think apple is reasonable in the mid 600 given a cash on the balance sheet and how well the iphone 5 is selling. great sales in china. i think apple is poised to have a good finish to this year, really well-positioned for next year particularly getting toward the apple tv. i think apple tv will put apple back into everybody's cards. ashley: you still think it is a buy at this price? >> i think you'll have a lot more selling between here and the next couple of weeks because of the capital gains issue. other than that, apple is a great place to be. we are definitely holding. ashley: where do the market go? two scenarios. getting some sort of a deal done, is a market poised to move

higher? >> on a fundamental basis a lot of sectors in the market that are very cheap. i think the market will go much higher. again, low volume which is a little bit tricky. ashley: which sectors in particular do you like. >> love energy, industrial, i think all those sectors are poised to do really well. 2013 will be a pivotal year, a lot of things will happen. if any one or two of them are good comi, close to the market r a strong year. ashley: also say the housing employment will improve ss credits becomes available. that is a big if and when it becomes available. things are very leery to lend money right now, aren't they?

>> they have basically been waiting for interest rates to go up. interest rates are not going up for a year, two years or perhaps longer. if you come to grips with the fact they will not be able to earn a return unless they get back to lending. ashley: talking to the banks generally moving higher today, do you like the financial sector? >> i liked parts of it. u.s. banks, jpmorgan, goldman and others. ashley: thank you very much. >> appreciate it, thank you. tracy: another day, another apple story. new offer, no deal. opening the doors to avoid the fiscal cliff. no surprise, white house says. ashley: helping the needy. washington, d.c., or charity? both in desperate need of revenue. gerri willis on a new proposal

to help avoid the fiscal cliff. take a look at some of the winners and losers as we take a break.

tracy: 30 past the hour. from the new york stock exchange. nicole: just watching, can stop trading for a second. you're always so gracious, take time to speak with us. what are your thoughts on the market?

>> this is the same scene we have seen for the last week. the market wants to move higher, test ambition, just need the sentiment to move higher. as regulator of the afternoon, i think portfolio managers, traders, investors, the time horizon has gotten so sure towards the end of the year any risk on the table comes off rather quickly. working friday or this morning some profits off the table. nicole: when you look ahead, less risk at this point, telling them to sell and set it? there must be something to do. >> you have to be aware of what is going to happen by the end of the year. there are great companies that are investing in the long-term, so let's not get too scared just

yet. i think it is very crowded at this point. nicole: thank you, back to you. tracy: we will see you in 15 minutes. ashley: we have been saying this too much since it happened, president obama and speaker john boehner meeting again. at least that is a good sign. what did they accomplish? rich edson in washington, d.c., with one of the hardest to take back all over this. >> there is progress, but there is still significant obstacles to securing a deal. president obama posted 45 minutes meeting this morning with john boehner and tim geithner trying to come up with a framework to cut spending and raise tax revenue by the same amount with a rate increase the amount of more than a million dollars, curbing deductions through a process congress would negotiate next year. also discussing continuing and

facing a payroll tax cuts, extending unemployment benefits and raising the debt ceiling. with that spending hike absent, the administration expects any deal with the speaker to have the support of republicans. >> is the leader of house of representatives colleague of the house republican congress and i believe most powerful elected official in the land. we won't tell him how he should work with the conference, but we are obviously engaged in a conversation with the speaker and his staff another leadership members and the parameters of the agreement. rich: so talks continue. it appears that come his way back in session the day after christmas to work on a possible death deal and some other items, though step one is getting an agreement.

between the president and the speaker, and they are not there yet. ashley: hopefully getting there. tracy: one of the other items, 33 million people waiting, see what the heck they're going to do. >> texas, washington is looking for a way to raise revenue right now trying to get rid of the tax deductions. is it a good idea or will it hurt charities? gerri willis to weigh in and then i am going to weigh in. >> we have a bunch of people on, when you drill into this what you find from the charitable organizations is that the deduction goes away, 76% of the contributions come right through that, get that deduction. this would be a real thing. here's what people are thinking about. if the red cross isn't there with all the money they typically have come if united way isn't there, wh who's goingo

pay? who will pony up the money for the good work they do over the country. you think the rich will be stung? no, the poor people will be hurting. tracy: i think at the end of the day we are a philanthropic bunch. i will be the first person to tell you the week before new years i am writing checks out. you are doing it, a lot of people do it for this deduction. all that stuff will go away. >> you have the left saint deductions for wealthy people, people on the far right, libertarians who say this has got to go away, this makes no sense. it is interesting, the extremes so we have to get rid of it. people in the middle including people who benefit from the charities and give to charities are saying to keep it in place. we want government to take over these roles?

you want that private hand in charity. ashley: i agree. >> it is something they do well, something they are effective at. what is the track record of government with fema and other organizations? not so hot. tracy: they have to continue to be reported. >> from all over the country. tracy: "the willis report," are you talking about this more? >> we have been talking about it for two weeks. tracy: when you were here you have a great interview. >> i am very concerned about it. ashley: thank you so much. and welcome back.

debuting to out of this world numbers. "the hobbit" box office record. tracy: i don't get it, i'm so clueless. as we do every day, and look at the 10 and 30-year treasuries. you're 30 years moving as well off five basis points. we will be right back. and his new boss told him twongs -- cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll wk his way from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and me from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, nd he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade.

>> i am shibani joshi with your fox business brief. stocks coming off of session highs after another round of negotiations today. at the white house between president obama treasury secretary tim geithner and house speaker john boehner. the state of massachusetts has fined morgan stanley $500 million over facebook ipo. the complaint cites a wall street analyst.

telling fox business they're pleased to have reached a settlement and put the matter behind them. was amazon announcing an agreemt adding falling skies and the closer to the prime instant video catalog giving members access to both titles at no additional cost.

ashley: the power of the hobbit open with a record-breaking ticket sales. >> it is if the hobbit was the only movie in town. setting a record high the box office for the film opening

in the center. open to $85 million to the u.s. box office for the opening weekend of any of the three "lord of the rings" films. answering whether fans are still keen on the ring a full decade after the trilogy first began. "the hobbit" took him three times as much money at the u.s. box office this weekend as the four other top films this weekend combined. bring like five to $7 million apiece. one of the few american films ever to bring in more ticket sales in the china market than the u.s. that's already basically one fourth of the way toward the

million dollars mark. hit almost $870 billion, the second one cleared the mark. went up past a billion, and now doing well to beat all three of that. ashley: i would not against it. tracy: breaking news, oil closed at $87.21 per barrel. though more than half a percent. should you do the same? sand dismissed as the trade from the pits of the cme. sandra: a bit of a change from a month ago, couple of months again. one of the bullish sentiment leading the market in general. lots of folks are going to the

sidelines evolve and speculators and large institutional investors, and the tradition held in the commodities market down in the last week. down 68% in just one week, that is the biggest drop in about five years even though sugar is getting a bounce today, this gives you the background sentiment. the amount of bullish bets in that market down the most since june, looking at crude oil about flat on the session still $88 per barrel. the amount of positions in the crude oil market down 21% in just one week, the biggest drop since may. it is safe to say with all the fiscal cliff talk and ben bernanke warning about what it can do for the economy, a lot of the money coming out for the commodity market hitting the sidelines and train the new

year, but still the big banks, bank of america, goldman sachs forecasting very bullish. gold, copper, platinum, bank of america put out a note expecting those for commodities to out perform all commodities in the new year, so it will be really interesting in 2013, continue to watch how they position themselves. back to you guys. you have oil, good thing sandra is there. ashley: almost a quarter until. now let's go down to nicole at the nyse. news of compuware. nicole: this one is really straight outright a big story. compuware up about 13%. and i will tell you why. elliot management corporation offering to buy the software company. you can see this up $1.22.

you can see it at $10.75. the premium for friday, that is why you saw the pop. it was a little higher a short time ago. $11.16, right up to that offer price, as you know, beyond the offer point. we talk about this company, they control it present of compuware. you can see it right now. tracy: greek yogurt sales going getting busted setting up shop, more shop here in america. thashley: up 3.33%. we will be right back.

ashley: and early christmas gift to drivers as gas prices dropped to their lowest level of the year. prices have fallen as supplies disrupted by hurricane isaac and sandy are being replenished and refineries have switched to winter blends. americans will spend a record amount of gasoline this year, $2700 on average.

and interesting twist even americans will spend a record amount this year, they're spending the least amount of fuel in 11 years because cars are more fuel efficient but also consumption. tracy: yogurt company has not only given america a drive for greek yogurt, but in five years they have opened one of the largest yogurt factories in twin falls, idaho. the joint now from the plant out in idaho. so good to see you. before we dive into this amazing plant your building, and we are using your camera for the interview today. we need a little bit a background. it came from turkey with pretty much nothing and you first

started, you bought a craft plant in new york, employing 1300 people originally started making feta cheese. >> that was my earlier job. i found and added that the plant was for sale and i remember picking it up and there was a plant closing out after 90 years almost. they tried to close the plant in the next day as i wanted to buy this plant. i hired the first people and that is how it started. tracy: debate to be revitalized. they were selling greek yogurt like a menace. now let's go forward to idaho.

could you revitalize this plant next? >> this exciting all over the place. we spent about $450 million but more importantly we built the plant in 326 days. not only the largest yogurt plant in the world but one of the fastest built plants. we are trying to tell the country the awesome things happening everywhere. tracy: is so amazing. if more spirit than most people these days. 1.30 yen dollars t$1.30 billion. you work with idaho in order to

build this plant there. >> right. and i think we have to acknowledge idaho, the city in twin falls. when we decided to come here, we are fast people. they said you will never catch us. this state is an awesome place to do business in this past year has proved people are right. what we did was work side-by-side making sure it was safe, we always work forward. tracy: three new products will be coming out of this plant. a smaller cup, all the granola, and regular yogurt. why do you think it is taken o

off, everybody is eating greek yogurt these days. >> it is true. healthy, natural yogurt can be in the lunchbox, and even myself. tracy: my kids love that. it has been around for hundreds and hundreds of years. in america it was not enjoyed by everybody. it was never pure and simple. tracy: you are feeding us and giving industry to our country. thank you, sir. >> thank you, tracy. ashley: way to go, idaho. more than potatoes.

the official santa tracking company made a list and checked it twice ending its relationship with google in a partnership with microsoft to help children keep tabs on the big guy. creating apps for windows based and windows phones. in addition to this, they can e-mail norad with an address to receive updates of when their presence will arrive. tracy: we love norad, love it, love it, love it. liz claman will take us through the last hour of trading. part of warren buffett and berkshire hathaway empire. liz claman and "countdown to the closing bell" next.